Dealing with Reality
by goldencarnival
Summary: Phil finds himself in another reality where him and Dan didn't met. He notices scars on Dan's wrist, but at the same time his body is feeling the effects of a different universe.


_A man in a slate grey robe punched a code into the side panel and walked into a large office. A woman stood at her desk reading the screen projected a few feet in front of her. She acknowledged the man who enter, and he spoke. "M'am. There's been a glitch in the system. We're still not sure how it's happened, but we've switched the wires and someone has moved inter-dementially. The technicians are working on resolving the problem without causing major ripple effects. I was sent to let you know."_

 _Her brow furrowed and she nodded. "Who is it? What's the potential ripple effect?"_

 _The man stepped forward swiftly and placed the file on her desk. "The man's name is Phil Lester. It's switched his timeline with what we think is late 2009, possibly early 2010."_

Dan stared at his camper screen. Just the glow of the computer screen lite the room. He wasn't looking at the screen though. He couldn't see through the tears in his eyes. He'd had enough. He closed his eyes and the tears poured down his cheeks. The kitchen knife slipped from his hand to the floor and he pulled his knees to his chest.

The voices echoed in his head. Stuck like a broken record. He bit his lip to keep it from shaking. He bit too hard and tasted blood. He wiped it away with his wrist and started at the shadow for a few minutes. Trying to feel something. The computer feel asleep and the room went dark.

 _"This has never glitches before. We didn't safeguard for it because we didn't think it could happen." The technician fiddled with a pencil while he spoke._

 _"I don't care if it's never happened before. If this isn't resolved, the ripple effect is devastating for both sides. The molecule imbalance alone will be devastating."_

 _"Yes m'am. We'll do what we can."_

 _"Don't just do what you can. Fix it." He left the room and she tapped her phone and made a call to the ground crew "Prepare someone for field work. We have a situation that will need… direction attention."_

Dan's shoes scuffed the ground. He kept his head on his gameboy as the coffee line moved forward. Getting out of the house was a way to avoid family. Told them he was going to hang out with friends. But he didn't have friends. He was alone. He only looked up long enough to give his order and pay. He sat down with a hot chocolate in the corner and settled in the chair. No one would bother him here. He pulled his sleeves far past his wrist and focused on his game.

About an hour later, a 20-something guy walked in and looked around. "Oi! Dan, hey!" He walked over, "What are you doing here?"

 _"I don't care how difficult it is to solve, it needs to be fixed. Take extreme measures."_

 _"_ _ _We have an agent ready m'am. Just a few more minutes before we're ready to deploy."__

"Sorry. Do I know you?"

"Very funny, Dan. What are…." Phil stopped for a minute. His hair was longer. Earrings. This wasn't right.

"You alright man? How'd you know my name?"

Phil sat down "you're name's Dan right?"

"…. yeah."

"Dan Howell?"

"Shit man, this is weird. Who are you?"

"Phil."

Pause and Dan shook his head.

"Phil Lester." He paused. Dan didn't know him. His best friend didn't recognize him.

There was a long pause.

"You look rough. You sure you're okay?"

"I'm… I'm not sure honestly." Dan looked too young. Too… past.

Phil sank deeper into his chair. His brain was getting foggy and he suddenly realized his head was pounding. Migraine. Then his sight started to go. He rubbed his eyes and he experienced tunnel vision then darkness. But just for a second before it was back. he stared at Dan. He looked different.

"Dude, you look like you need a drink."

"You really don't know who I am?" Phil asked. Dan shook his head. Phil was hoping for the punchline of a joke, but instead felt like he'd be punched in the stomach.

Dan reached for his drink on the table between them. Phil looked up for a moment and watched Dan's hand. He noticed the fresh scars on Dan's wrist. Phil's heart sank. This wasn't his Dan. The definitely wasn't right. Dan wasn't broken like this. Not anymore. Dan quickly covered his wrist again, and Phil's head started to pound even harder now. The pain spread down his back.

 _"M'am. We're ready."_

 _"Excellent. Send her in to wrap this up as quickly as possible."_

"Phil, hello!" A dark-hair girl rushed over to Phil and leaned in close. She whispered in his ear, "glitch in the system. I'm here to take you back. Sorry, but we've got to go now or we might not make it back."

Phil pushed her off and spoke up so Dan could here. "Glitch? Sorry. What?"

"Nothing to worry about, but we need to leave now." She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away.

Dan pretended to focus back to his game, but still listened.

"I'm not leaving." Phil said, looking at Dan. Dan looked back at him and wondered why this weird stranger cared about him. It felt weird to be cared about. He smiled a bit. There was the Dan Phil knew.

The girl sighed and closed her eyes. "This is never easy. Why do I always get these jobs?" She mumbled.

"Alright. This is gonna sounds crazy, but it's real and if… ah, screw it. I'll just tell you. Right. So you know the idea of alternate universes right?" She took a deep breath and started to ramble while the two tried to keep up. "Well, sometimes wires get crossed and people get… flipped. Well, I say sometimes. Hasn't really happened until today. You're the first actually. Which makes the people upstairs a bit nervous, and that's why we've got to get back. You've been flipped Phil. You're in the wrong space. You've probably noticed it physically. They told me you'd probably have migraines or body aches. Something like that. Same body, different space. Things get a bit… temperamental. We've created a connection point close by, but we need to go fast."

"Right. Okay. Um… Couple things." The pain in Phil's head was contracting the muscles in his back now. He threw his shoulder back and stretched his arms out to try and ease the pain. He had a lot of questions, but couldn't think. Couldn't form sentences.

"Yeah. The pain is only going to get worse. The molecules in your body are doing double time because you've brought extra matter into the universe which throws everything off." She recited this like it was a second grade science lesson and kept going. "You notice it in your muscles first, then your brain gets cloudy and you can't think or see straight, and eventually it effects the oxygen levels in your blood. We think anyway. We've never actually seen it happen in a human. Only rat experiments and the like. You'll pass soon, you're body will try to reset itself and then… Well, we need to get you back soon."

Phil swayed a bit and blinked his eyes hard. His vision started to blur, but then returned to normal. He couldn't put thoughts together. He looked at Dan in a panic. Dan looked back at him in concern. But the kind of concern you'd offer a crying stranger on the street. Phil saw Dan's wrist again and for a moment his head cleared and the pain faded. He leaned into Dan.

"Dan, Dan." He reach out for Dan's hands. Dan was hesitant but offered his hands. Phil grabbed them and pulled Dan's sleeve to reveal the fresh red lines. Dan look embarrassed and tried to pull away, but Phil only head to him tighter. "You're," Phil struggled to take a breath, "You're worth more than this, Dan." His thumb gentle brushed Dan's wrist. "If this is all real," he nodded to the girl "You're my best friend. Over there. Where I belong or whatever. We're best friends."

Dan bit his lip and pulled away. The pain rushed back and Phil's eyes filled with tears. He stopped to swallow the pain.

The girl leaned forward and gentle put a hand on Phil's shoulder. "We need to go. You're fading fast."

"Connection point right? You said it was close?" Dan looked up at her.

"Yeah. Right around the corner. Behind the Shakeaway."

"Right. Let's get him there then." Dan stood up and put his shoulder under Phil's arm. Phil let his weight fall into Dan and the two followed the girl out.

They walked for a couple minutes in silence. Phil was in and out of clarity. Mumbling and resting his head on Dan. They walked past the Shakeaway and saw an old police box in the shadow. Dan's voice broke the silence, "Police Box, really?"

"Bit of humor I guess." The girl responded. "I'm sorry, but I have to take him from here."

Phil started to stand a bit on his own. His vision blurred and he held onto Dan trying to focus on his face. "Find me. Find me here." The pain rippled from his head through his back again, this time resting in his legs. He doubled in pain and Dan grabbed him to keep him steady. "Dan." Phil grabbed Dan's wrist again with his hand and held it up at face height. "Dan. You have to promise you'll find the me that's here. He needs you." Phil used his other hand to pull his sleeve down a bit. Dan could see faint scars on his wrist too. "He needs you as much as you need him."

"Phil Lester, right?" Dan said.

"Phil Lester." Phil smiled and crumbled again in pain.

The girl took Phil from Dan's arms and pulled him into the police box.

"He'll be alright." She said to Dan, smiling. The door closed and vanished without a sound.

Dan stood there for moment. He put his hands in his pocket and felt the sting from his wrist. He pulled his hand and stared at his wrist and remember Phil's voice "You're my best friend." It was time to look for his best friend.


End file.
